It's been on my mind lately after the same question was posed to me......and I'm working on a lengthy blog about my own thoughts.
But, in the mean time.....in your own ideal fantasy education world, where what-ifs became a reality and there were no limits or parameters, what would effective parent-teacher-student conferences look like to you?
Feel free to post your positive vision or a word that comes to mind!
Simply put, effective parent-teacher-student conferences might begin when parents or guardians of our struggling students show up as well as the parents of our students who are doing well. Our struggling students don’t always have support when they leave our building. In a fantasy world, every student would have a supportive adult at home to assist them with homework, with peer “drama”, and with everyday teenage struggles. We still expect students to complete too much “homework” when the research says that homework isn’t effective (except for math homework). A fantasy world will never exist; what can we as teachers do to make school-life a bit easier for those without an encouraging adult at home? I don’t think some teachers understand or care that our society has changed drastically since “we” went to school. Teachers are and have been academic overachievers (for the most part); students are technology and video game overachievers. It’s frustrating to see things done the old way.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I was teaching, I would not have conferences without the student present. It was in a smaller school, however it was common knowledge that the student should be there. I usually had the student lead the conference, as opposed to me. THe student was responsible for sharing how they did/or did not do. It seemed to work and took the pressure off me to have to have so many difficult conversations. As a counselor now, I feel more like a resource during conferences, which has been a great transition.
ReplyDeleteI like to have student lead confrences whenever possible. I ask they students about what their doing in the class, hows it going grade wise, and anything I can help with. It usually makes it fun for the parent to hear it from them and it allow me to see what they really know so far
ReplyDeleteI do love educational fantasy world...
ReplyDeletePerfect conferences would first of all be held in a quiet coffee shop (with unlimited espresso drinks for teachers) rather than a noisy gymnasium. We would all sit in couches alongside each other rather than draw lines and sides with tables between us. Students would walk their parents through the evidence of their successes or struggles, then, with the parents, set a goal for the next quarter. If they need to challenge themselves, the goal could center around extending learning. If students are struggling, the goal might be setting up times to get help from teachers or studying for tests. We would end on a positive note and I would have time to go to the bathroom throughout the night. :-)
Ahhhw what it would be like if we could always have that perfect scenario for a perfect teacher-student-parent conference!!
ReplyDeleteI am right there with Betsy in hopes that we could one day have it a coffee shop, or someplace where it was a more intimate feeling and not noisy and stressful to get through that huge line of parents.
Even to have it in my own classroom would be lovely :)
I would love for the student to host the whole conference in which they show the work they are proud of, things they feel like are struggling with, areas that want to improve, questions that they have and a goal they want to set for themself.
I think it would be great to listen to the students thoughts, rather than have the teacher try to get through everything in 10 minutes in order to move on.
Here is a link to an interesting new model being used in Arizona: http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/academic-parent-teacher-teams-reorganizing-parent-teacher-conferences-around-data
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